Skaar (character)

Skaar
Variant Cover to Skaar: Son of Hulk #1. Art by Carlo Pagulayan.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	World War Hulk #5 (January 2008)
Created by	Greg Pak (writer) John Romita, Jr. (artist)
In-story information
Alter ego	Skaar
Place of origin	Sakaar
Notable aliases	Son of Hulk, Sakaarson, Worldbreaker, the Killer of Killers
Abilities	superhuman strength, stamina and durability, regenerative abilities Ability to draw power from the planet

Skaar is a fictional character in the

. He first appears in World War Hulk #5 (January 2008) and was created by Greg Pak and John Romita, Jr..

Publication history

Skaar is the son of the Hulk and the Shadow Warrior Caiera (not really important but, also the half-brother of She-Hulk), conceived during the Planet Hulk storyline. The character stars in his own ongoing series, Skaar: Son of Hulk, released in June 2008. with Pak returning to write the story and Ron Garney providing the art.

Planet Skaar

A continuation of both Planet Hulk and World War Hulk is due to begin in May 2009. A special stand alone prologue and Skaar: Son of Hulk #11 will see the beginning of Planet Skaar an arc which is intended to bring Skaar directly into the middle of the Marvel Universe. Following the return of the Silver Savage (the Silver Surfer) in issue #7 events began to spiral that forces Skaar to not only be exiled from Sakaar but to head towards Earth. Already revealed by series writer Greg Pak is that the Warbound will return, that Mister Fantastic will not be amused with the arrival of another Hulk-like being and that the meeting between father and son may not be very pleasant for the Hulk.

Fictional character biography

Skaar is the progeny of the Hulk and of Caiera the Oldstrong. As seen in the first issue, the blast that killed Caiera turned her into dust in the Hulk's arms. After her death a cocoon containing Skaar fell into the lake of fire. After a period of time, Skaar emerged from the cocoon, appearing to be the age equivalent of a human preteen. A year later and he appears to have grown into a teenager. He quickly grows into what seems to be an adult after he is attacked by the Bone Axeman's Dragon's flame, which at first looks like an example of his old power. Skaar defeats the Bone Axemen and his dragon with only a sword and his bare hands. Skaar, after having a confrontation with the princess Omaka, is shown to be able to speak intelligent sentences when the group is going to be attacked by Wildebots and the two form an alliance. After sometime, he gains the power of the Oldstrong with the help of his followers. Soon after, he finds himself allied with the Former King, who was saved from death and rebuilt with a majority of cybernetic parts by the Wildebots. After becoming his ally, many people who considered him a savior, including the Omaka, daughter of the Red King (whom he attempted to kill during his reign, along with the rest of her family so there would be no heir) lose faith in him and ally themselves with Axeman Bone.

With his Oldstrong, he manages to see the acts of death committed by everyone on the planet and intends to kill Axeman and his followers, and almost succeeds, when the Silver Surfer makes a sudden return and manages to take away his Oldstrong power and reveals that Galactus is coming to the planet to consume it. He opts Skaar the chance to use the Oldstrong power to revive the ancient technology of the Shadows to evacuate the planet, becoming a hero of the universe as the planet Sakaar would have enough energy to satiate Galactus' hunger for a hundred thousand years.

Throughout the series his mother, Caiera, spoke to him asking him to fight for good of the people of the planet, but he insisted on revenge, consumed with rage over Axeman Bone Through one final plea of his mother's spirit, she asked him to give up his rage, he instead proceeds into battle, with no regard for the innocent. Caiera, using the little of her strength left as a spirit, used her Oldstrong power to return in a stone form of herself initially, then in the image of his father. She proceeded to defeat him with ease and asks why he insisted on being a killer instead of a attempting to make peace. He then reveals his plan of killing everyone on the planet he deemed evil after glimpsing the destruction so many people made when he briefly wielded the power of Oldstrong.

His mother, offering him one last chance of redemption, makes Silver Surfer (still being controlled by an obedience disk) bring to Galactus a being who has killed billions in order to truly grasp if he was able to succeed at his plans, showing him consequences of his actions will result with the death of everyone on the planet by the hands of Galactus with a vision. The Surfer then sends him back to Sakaar after believing he sees things his way. Caiera then returns to being one with the planet, believing Skaar has taken up the Silver Surfer on his previous offer of evacuating the planet and returns his old power to him to do so. Skaar then unsuspectingly uses his newly returned old power to destroy the ships, dooming everyone on the planet. He chose that the planet and his mother's soul was more important that its inhabitants and gave the Surfer an ultimatum, spare Sakaar or he will use his old power to increase Galactus' hunger which would cause him to consume every planet the Surfer managed to save. The Surfer decides to leave, informing everyone on the planet of his actions and how they would be subsequently responsible for the deaths of billions. Caiera returns to him once more and denounces him as her son for his decision and exiles him from the planet, saying she can understand the reasons that the people of Earth wanted to get rid of Hulk. She then absorbs the power of Sakaar and awaited for Galactus to consume her.

Arrival to Earth

Skaar arrives on Earth and comes into conflict with the Fantastic Four and other Army personnel. Thought dead in a bombing, Skaar shows that he can revert to his human form, appearing as a five year old child with indistinguishable skin color. After running into and attacking the Warbound, Skaar and the Hulk finally come to face to face, with Skaar asking how he should kill his father. Kate Waynesboro replies, "You don't." Skaar attacks the Hulk, whose strength fluctuates during the battle due to Banner repressing the Hulk's "Green Scar" persona. The fight causes the earth to shake, creating a fissure which heads toward a nuclear power plant. For most of the fight, Hulk was beating Skaar almost effortlessly. Kate attempts to prevent this from happening but is not able, due to her lack of mastery of the Oldstrong power. Skaar intervenes and stops the eruption. He ends his fight with his father, claiming that this isn't the Hulk he wanted to fight and declares Earth as his new home.

Skaar later encounters Bruce Banner, who had been robbed of the ability to become the Hulk by the Red Hulk. Bruce offers to teach Skaar how to kill the Hulk, should he ever return, and proceeds to pick a fight between Skaar and Juggernaut to help Skaar prepare for this confrontation.

Skaar later ends up in a fight with Juggernaut and throws him into space, leaving Juggernaut's status unknown.

Powers and abilities

Skaar has powers inherited from both his parents. Like the Hulk, his father, he has superhuman endurance, regenerative abilities and superhuman strength, which, like his father, increases when he is enraged, although he isn't as strong as the Savage Hulk persona. He also can revert to a human form when calm or otherwise incapacitated. However, in his case, his other form is half-human, half-Oldstrong. From his mother, Caiera, he has the powers of an Oldstrong, emerging from his birth cocoon able to walk and talk within moments, and he can draw power from the planet and harden his body.

Other versions

What If?

In the What If? storyline What if Caiera the Oldstrong had survived the destruction of Sakaar instead of the Hulk?, a 21-year-old version of Skaar appeared near the end, partially seen and obscured by shadows.

External links

• Best Shots Extra: Skaar: Son of Hulk #1, Newsarama, June 10, 2008